Lecture 2 & 3: HCBA 3112/HEPM 3106: Business research Methods/Research Methods in

Project Management:
Prof [Link]
1st February 2024.

Research problem:

The first and foremost stage in the research process is to select and properly define the research
problem. A researcher should first identify a problem and formulate it, so as to make it amenable
or susceptible to research. In general, a research problem refers to a difficulty or an
unanswered question that a researcher might encounter in the context of either a theoretical
or practical situation, which he/she would like to answer or find a solution to. A research
problem is generally said to exist if the following conditions emerge (Kothari, 2019):

i. There should be an individual or an organization, say X, to whom the Problem can be attributed.
The individual or the organization is situated in an environment Y, which is governed by certain
uncontrolled variables Z;

ii. There should be at least two or more courses of action to be pursued to address the issue at hand.
If there is only one course of action that can be pursued to address the problem, we are dealing
with a management problem and not a research problem

iii. There should be a perceived difference or discrepancy between what it is

and what it should be.

v. The reason(s) for this difference should be unclear (so that it makes sense to
develop a research question); and

vi. There should be more than one possible and plausible answer to the question (or
solution to the problem).

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Thus, the components of a research problem may be summarised as:

i. There should be an individual or a group who have some difficulty or problem.

ii. There should be some objective(s) to be pursued. A person or an organization who wants nothing
cannot have a problem.

iii. There should be alternative ways of pursuing the objective the researcher wants to pursue. This
implies that there should be more than one alternative means available to the researcher. This is
because if the researcher has no choice of alternative means, he/she would not have a problem.

iv. There should be some doubt in the mind of the researcher about the choice of alternative means.
This implies that research should answer the question relating to the relative efficiency or
suitability of the possible alternatives.

v. There should be a context to which the difficulty relates.

Thus, identification of a research problem is the pre-condition to conducting research. A research

problem is said to be the one which requires a researcher to find the best available solution to the
given problem.

NB: If the answer to the research question is obvious, we are dealing with a management
problem that may be solved without further research (examples).

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Examples:
Example 1:
Problem situation: In sub-county Y, a report showed that in the first month of the year, there were
500 children who enrolled in Grade one but at the end of the year, it was found out that there were
only 25 children who were still actively attending school.

Discrepancy: All the 500 children in sub-county Y should be attending school but only 5% of
those enrolled are still in school.

Problem (research) question: Why only 5% of the children are the ones still enrolled in school

Definite answer: Out of 10 schools in sub-county Y, one school was functioning, the rest were
closed due to insecurity in the area.
In the above example, assuming that all given facts are true, there is no need of undertaking
a research, since a definite answer is obtained to the problem situation.

Example 2:
Problem situation: In town Y with a salaried population of 150,000, there are 5 banks and 10
saccos and all of them function smoothly. However, at the end of the year, it was found out that
residents saving their monies in these institutions were only 10%.

Discrepancy: Why only 10% were utilizing the banking facilities

Problem (research question): What factors influence low adoption of the banking facilities

Possible answers:
 Illiteracy
 Low wages
 High bank charges
 Insecurity

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Thus, the above problem situation is researchable
Exercise:

In a certain rural town (Population 100,000), sanitary conditions are very poor (only 5% of
households have latrines) and diseases connected with poor sanitation are very common. The
ministry of health has initiated a sanitation project that aims at increasing the number of households
with latrines by 20% each year. The project provides materials and the population should provide
labour. Two years later, less than half of the target has been reached.
State the discrepancy, research question and the possible answers. Is this problem situation
researchable?

Other Researchable Problem situations:

1. Influence of competitive strategies on organizational performance of Kenya commercial
banks (Strategic management).
2. Influence of career development on service delivery in the public sector in Kenya (HRM)
3. Factors affecting effective implementation of strategic plans in non-governmental
organizations in Kenya (HRM)
4. Influence of Human Resource Strategies on Retention of Employees in Universities in
Kenya (HRM)
5. Effect of Islamic Banking on Financial performance of Commercial Banks in Mombasa
County (Finance).
6. Adoption of E-commerce by state owned enterprises in Kenya – A case study of Kenya
Power & Lighting Company Ltd (MBA)
7. Factors influencing growth of deposit taking saccos in Nairobi county (MBA)
8. Penetration rate of general insurance services in Nairobi County, Kenya (MBA)
9. Influence of low cost building materials on housing projects in reduction of housing deficits
in Nairobi County, Kentya (project management)
10. Factors influencing success of county water projects – A case study of Kiambu County,
Kenya (project Management)
11. Influence of stakeholder activities on implementation of rural road projects in Machakos
County (Project Management)

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 12. Entrepreneurial determinants of performance of coffee based micro and small
agribusinesses of the coffee small holders in Muranga County (Doctor of philosophy,
Entrepreneurship)

Sources of Research Problems

Research in social sciences revolves around four Ps:
 People - A group of individuals
 Problems – Examine the existence of certain issues or problems relating to their lives; to
ascertain attitude of a group towards an issue.
 Programs – To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention
 Phenomena – To establish the existence of a regularity
In practice, most research studies are based upon at least a combination of two Ps.

Criteria for prioritizing problems for research:

Each problem that is proposed for research has to be judged according to certain guidelines
or criteria. There may be several ideas to choose from. Before deciding on a research topic, each
proposed topic must be compared with all other options

1. Relevance: The topic you choose should be a priority problem

2. Avoidance of duplication: Investigate whether the topic has been researched. If the topic has
been researched, the results should be reviewed to explore whether major questions that deserve
further investigation remain unanswered. If not, another topic should be chosen

3. Feasibility: Consider the complexity of the problem and the resources you will require to carry
out the study. Thought should be given first to personnel, time, equipment and money that are
locally available. In situations where the local resources necessary to carry out the project are not
sufficient, you might consider sources available at the national level.

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4. Political acceptability: It is advisable to research a topic that has the interest and support of the
authorities. This will facilitate the smooth conduct of the research and increases the chance that
the results of the study will be implemented.

5. Applicability of possible results and recommendations. Is it likely that the recommendations

from the study will be applied? This will depend not only on the blessing of the authorities but
also on the availability of resources for implementing the recommendations.

6. Urgency of data needed. How urgently are the results needed for making a decision? Which
research should be done first and which can be done late?

7. Ethical acceptability. We should always consider the possibility that we may inflict harm on
others while carrying out research. Therefore, it will be useful to review the proposed study.

8. Controversial subjects should not become the choice of an average researcher.

9. Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.

Scales for rating research Topics:

Relevance:
1. Not Relevant
2. Relevant
3. Very relevant
Avoidance of duplication:
1. Sufficient information already available
2. Some information available but major issues not covered
3. No sound information available on which to base problem solving

Feasibility
1. Study not feasible considering available resources
2. Study feasible considering available resources

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 3. Study very feasible considering available resources
Political acceptability:
1. Topic not acceptable
2. Topic somewhat acceptable
3. Topic fully acceptable
Applicability
1. No chance of recommendations being implemented
2. Some chance of recommendations being implemented
3. Good chance pf recommendations being implemented
Urgency:
1. Information not urgently needed
2. Information could be used but a delay of some months would be acceptable
3. Data urgently needed for decision making
Ethical acceptability:
1. Major ethical problems
2. Minor ethical problems
3. No ethical problems
NB: The above ratings should be based on the existing data and not on mere assumptions.

Technique involved in defining a problem:

Defining a problem involves the task of laying down boundaries within which a researcher shall
study the problem with a predetermined objective in view. The technique involves undertaking the
following steps one after the other:

i. Statement of the problem in a general way: A pilot study can then be done especially in the
social sciences. This is because a problem stated in a general way normally has a lot of ambiguities.
A pilot study would help to narrow down the problem in operational terms.

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ii. Understanding the nature of the problem: The best way of understanding the problem is to
discuss it with those who first raised it in order to find out how the problem originally came about
and with what objectives in view.

iii. Surveying the available literature: This is done to find out what data/information is available
for operational purposes. This would also help a researcher to know if there are certain gaps in the
theories applicable to the problem under study.

iv. Developing ideas through discussions: This is known as experience survey. Its done with
people knowledgeable in the area. They help the researcher sharpen his focus of attention on
specific aspects within the field.

v. Rephrasing the research problem: Finally the researcher must rephrase the research problem
into a working proposition. Through rephrasing, the researcher puts the research problem in as
specific terms as possible so that it may become operationally viable and may help in the
development of a workable hypothesis.

Information that should be included in statement of a research problem:

 Basic description of the research problem

 Discrepancy between what is and what should be
 Its size, distribution and severity (who is affected, where, since when etc)
 An analysis of the major factors that may influence the problem and a convincing argument
that available knowledge is insufficient to answer a certain question and to update the
previous knowledge
 Brief description of any solutions that have been tried in the past, how well they have
worked and why further research is needed
 A description of the type of information expected to result from the project and how this
information will be used to solve the problem

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Literature Review in research:

It’s an essential preliminary task in order to acquaint oneself with the available body of knowledge
in the area of interest. Literature review is integral part of entire research process and makes
valuable contribution to every operational step.

Purpose of literature Review:

1. Main purpose is to determine what has been done already related to the research problem being
studied. This helps to:
 Avoid unnecessary duplication
 Form the framework within which the research findings are to be interpreted
 Demonstrate his or her familiarity with the existing body of knowledge. This increases the
reader’s confidence in the researchers’ professional ability.

2. A review of literature will reveal what strategies, procedures and measuring instruments have
been found useful in investigating the problem in question. This information helps one to avoid
mistakes that have been made by other researchers and also helps one to benefit from other
researchers’ experiences.

3. In most cases, literature review will suggest other procedures and approaches. This is very useful
information because a researcher could try out suggested approaches especially if they will
improve the research study

4. To make the researcher familiar with previous studies and thus facilitate interpretation of the
results of the study.

5. Literature review helps the researcher to limit the research problem and to define it better.

6. Literature review helps determine new approaches and stimulate new ideas.

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7. Approaches that have proved futile will be reviewed through literature review. Enables
researcher to ignore such going forward

8. Recommendations from previous authors can only come to light from literature review. Such
recommendations can then be taken up by the researcher to enrich his research.

9. Literature review reveals gaps in information and where major questions still remain

Sources of Literature:

Information sources are generally categorized into three levels:

(1) primary sources, (2) secondary sources, and (3) tertiary sources.

a) Primary sources: This is a direct description of any occurrence by an individual who actually
observed or witnessed the occurrence. In research, this is the description of a research by a person
who actually carried out the research. Review of literature of literature should be based on primary
sources as much as possible because information from secondary sources may be altered by
writers. Primary sources are original works of research or raw data without interpretation or
pronouncements that represent an official opinion or position. Included among the primary sources
are memos; letters; complete interviews or speeches (in audio, video, or written transcript formats);
laws; regulations; court decisions or standards; and most government data, including census,
economic, and labor data. Primary sources are always the most authoritative because the
information has not been filtered or interpreted by a second party. Other internal sources of primary
data are inventory records, personnel records, purchasing requisition forms, statistical process
control charts, and similar data

b). Secondary sources: Secondary sources are interpretations of primary data. Encyclopedias,
textbooks, handbooks, magazine and newspaper articles, and most newscasts are considered
secondary information sources. Indeed, nearly all reference materials fall into this category.
Internally, sales analysis summaries and investor annual reports would be examples of secondary
sources, because they are compiled from a variety of primary sources. These include any

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publication written by an author who was not a direct observer or participant in the events
described.

c). Tertiary sources may be interpretations of a secondary source but generally are represented
by indexes, bibliographies, and other finding aids (e.g., Internet search engines).

NB: It is important to remember that all information is not of equal value. As the source levels
indicate, primary sources have more value than secondary sources, and secondary sources have
more value than tertiary sources.

Examples of sources of information:

1. Scholarly journals: Nowadays many journals are online. Journals provide you with the
most up- to -date information even though there is a gap of two to three years between the
completion of a research project and the publication in a journal. Properly referenced
journal articles will have the authors name, year of publication, title of article, title of
journal and the volume.
2. Theses and dissertations; all graduate students who wish to receive a masters or Doctor of
philosophy(Ph.D.) undertake original work which they write up as a thesis or dissertation.
3. Government documents; These include policy papers, research reports etc.
4. Papers presented in conferences. Such are normally published in conference proceedings
5. Books: These comprise a central part of any literature review. The main advantage of books
is that the material published generally is of good quality and the findings are integrated
with other research to form a coherent body of knowledge. The main disadvantage is that
the material is not completely up to date as it can take a few years between the completion
of a work and publication in the form of a book.
6. References quoted in books: The references given at the back of a relevant book may reveal
more relevant sources eg books or journals
7. International indices: these list theses and dissertations which have been written in a
particular area of specialization. It has the authors, titles and universities.

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 8. Abstracts: These give a list of journal articles with summaries. Abstracts will give the
name, volume and issue number of the journal where the full article can be found
9. Periodicals: Includes journals, magazines, newspapers which are published periodically
10. Grey Literature: Refers to anything written but not published eg lecture notes, papers
presented in conferences etc.
11. A handbook. A handbook is a collection of facts unique to a topic. Handbooks often include
statistics, directory information, a glossary of terms, and other data such as laws and
regulations essential to a field
12. Encyclopedias. Researchers use an encyclopedia to find background or historical
information on a topic or to find names or terms that can enhance search results in other
sources. For example, you might use an encyclopedia to find the date that Microsoft
introduced Windows and then use that date to draw more information from an index to the
time period. Encyclopedias are also helpful in identifying the experts in a field and the key
writings on any topic. One example of an encyclopedia is the Online TDM Encyclopedia
published by the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute. Another example drawn from the
area of fi nance is the Encyclopedia of Private Equity and Venture Capital, published by
VC Experts, Inc., a provider of expertise and opportunity in private equity and venture
capital.
13. Internet:
14. Electronic storage devices

Cited reference and bibliography:

Cited reference refer to a list of references which the researcher actually read and cited in
the text. Bibliography refers to the list of materials that were read whether they are cited or
not.
There are various ways of writing references and bibliographies. The format will depend on the
university or on the journal publishing the research work. The following are selected formats of
referencing taken from the American Psychological Association (APA) manual, one of the most
commonly used by social scientists.

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The following examples show how to reference different sources of information using APA
referencing format:
1. Journal article-one author: Njenga, P. (2024). Business Research Methods. Journal of
International Business, 20. 300 – 320.
2. Journal article- more than two authors: Njenga, P, Omondi, W & Kosgey, L.K (2024).
Ethic in Business research. International Journal of Business Ethics, 22. 100-120.
3. Paper presented at a conference: Njenga, P.K. (2024). Research Methods. Paper presented
at Business Research Symposium, Nairobi, Kenya, May 2022.
4. Newspaper article: Njenga, P.K. (February 1st 2024). Business Ethics. The Daily Nation pp
20.

Tips on good reviewing of Literature:

1. Do not conduct a hurried review for fear of overlooking important studies
2. Do not rely too heavily on secondary sources
3. Many people concentrate only on findings from journals when reviewing literature. One
should also read about the methodology used and the measurement of variables
4. Its important to check daily newspapers as they contain very educative current information
5. Its extremely important to copy references correctly in the first place so as to avoid the
frustration of trying to retrace a reference later.

Evaluating Information Sources:

A researcher using secondary sources, especially if drawn from the Internet, will want to conduct
a source evaluation. Researchers should evaluate and select information sources based on five
factors that can be applied to any type of source, whether printed or electronic. These are:

• Purpose —the explicit or hidden agenda of the information source.

• Scope —the breadth and depth of topic coverage, including time period, geographic limitations,
and the criteria for information inclusion.
• Authority —the level of the data (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the credentials of the source

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author(s).
• Audience —the characteristics and background of the people or groups for whom the source was
created.
• Format —how the information is presented and the degree of ease of locating specific
information within the source.

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Lecture 3:

Research Process - 10 Steps

Research process contains a series of closely related activities which have to be carried out by a
researcher. Research process requires patience. There is no measure that shows your research is
the best. It is an art rather than a science. The following are the main steps in social or business
research process.

1. Selection of Research Problem

2. Extensive Literature Survey
3. Development of a Hypothesis
4. Preparing the Research Design
5. Sampling
6. Data collection
7. Data Analysis
8. Hypothesis Testing
9. Generalization and Interpretation
10. Preparation of Report

1. Selection of Research Problem

The selection of topic for research is a difficult job. When we select a title or research statement,
then other activities would be easy to perform. The research topic or problem should be practical,
relatively important, feasible, ethically and politically acceptable.

2. Literature Review or Extensive Literature Survey

After the selection of research problem, the second step is that of literature mostly connected with
the topic. The availability of the literature may bring ease in the research. For this purpose
academic journals, conference and govt. reports, library etc must be studied.

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3. Development of a working Hypothesis
A working hypothesis is a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical
empirical consequences. Hypothesis should be very specific and limited to the piece of research in
hand because it has to be tested. The role of the hypothesis is to guide the researcher by delimiting
the area of research and to keep him on the right track. It sharpens his thinking and focuses
attention on the more important facets of the problem.

4. Preparing the Research Design

This is the conceptual structure within which research would be conducted. The function of a
research design is to provide for the collection of relevant evidence with optimum effort, time and
expenditure. Experimental designs could be formal designs or informal designs. Examples of
formal designs include: completely randomized design, randomized block design, latin square
design etc.
.

5. Sampling
The researcher must decide the way of selecting a sample or what is popularly known as the sample
design. In other words, a sample design is a definite plan determined before any data is actually
collected for obtaining a sample from a given population.

The sample may be of two types:

1. Probability Sampling
2. Non-probability Sampling

6. Data collection
There are several ways of collecting appropriate data which differ considerably in the context of
cost, time and other resources at the disposal of the researcher
Primary Data Collection: Primary data may be from the following.
1. Experiments
2. Questionnaires
3. Observation

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4. Interviews
Secondary data collection: it has the following categories:
1. Review of literature
2. Official and non-official reports
3. Library approach

7. Data Analysis
After the data has been collected, the researcher turns to the task of analyzing them. The analysis
of data requires a number of closely related operations such as establishment of categories, the
application of these categories to raw data through coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical
inferences.
The researcher should classify the raw data into some purposeful and usable categories. Coding
operation is usually done at this stage through which categories of data is transformed into symbols
that may be tabulated and counted. Editing is the procedure that improves the quality of data for
coding. Tabulation is a part of the technical procedure where the classified data is put in form of
tables.
Analysis work after tabulation is generally based on the computation of various percentages,
coefficients etc.

8. Hypothesis Testing
After analyzing the data, the researcher is in a position to test the hypothesis. The ususl question
is: Do the facts support the hypothesis or they happen to be contrary. Various tests such as the chi
square test, t-test, F-test have been developed by statisticians for this purpose. Hypothesis testing
will result in either accepting the hypothesis or in rejecting it.

9. Generalization and Interpretation

If a hypothesis is tested and upheld several times, it may be possible for the researcher to arrive at
some generalisations, ie to build a theory. As a matter of fact, the real value of research lies in its
ability to arrive at certain generalisations. If the researcher had no hypothesis to start with, he might
seek to explain his findings on the basis of some theory. This is known as interpretation. The

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process of interpretation may often trigger off new questions which in turn may lead to further
researches.

10. Preparation of the report or thesis.

Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report of what has been done.

A practical Exercise:

Identifying the broad problem area

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of a firm observes that the newly installed Management
Information System (MIS) is not being used by middle managers as much as was originally
expected. The managers often approach the CIO or some other “computer expert” for help or,
worse still, make decisions without facts. “There is surely a problem here,” the CIO exclaims. The
CIO develops the following broad problem statement: “What should be done to increase the use
of the newly installed MIS by our middle managers?”

Defining the problem statement

Talking to some of the middle-level managers, the CIO finds that many of them have very little
idea as to what MIS is all about, what kinds of information it can provide, and how to access it
and utilize the information. The CIO uses the Internet to explore further information on the lack
of use of MIS in organizations. The search indicates that many middle-level managers – especially
the old-timers – are not familiar with operating personal computers and experience “computer
anxiety.” Lack of knowledge about what MIS offers is also found to be another main reason why
some managers do not use it. This information helps the CIO to narrow the broad problem area
and to define the problem statement: “To what extent do knowledge-related factors affect the use
of MIS by middle managers?”

Hypothesizing

The CIO develops a theory incorporating all the relevant factors contributing to the lack of access
to the MIS by managers in the organization. From such a theory, the CIO generates various
hypotheses for testing, one among them being: Knowledge of the usefulness of MIS would help
managers to put it to greater use.

Development of measures and data collection

The CIO then develops a short questionnaire measuring the various factors theorized to influence
the use of the MIS by managers, such as the extent of knowledge of what MIS is, what kinds of
information MIS provides, how to gain access to the information, and the level of comfort felt by

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managers in using computers in general, and finally, how often managers have used the MIS in
the preceding three months.

Data analysis

The CIO then analyzes the data obtained through the questionnaire to see what factors prevent
the managers from using the system.

Interpretation

Based on the results, the manager deduces or concludes that managers do not use MIS owing to
certain factors. These deductions help the CIO to take necessary action to rectify the situation,
which might include, among other things, organizing seminars for training managers on the use
of computers, and MIS and its usefulness.

Assignment:

1. Define the problem statement in the following situation (20 marks)

Employee loyalty

Companies benefit through employee loyalty. Crude downsizing in organizations during the
recession crushed the loyalty of millions. The economic benefits of loyalty embrace lower
recruitment and training costs, higher productivity of workers, customer satisfaction, and the boost
to morale of fresh recruits. In order that these benefits are not lost, some companies, while
downsizing, try various gimmicks. Flex leave, for instance, is one. This helps employees receive
20% of their salary, plus employer-provided benefits, while they take a 6- to 12-month sabbatical,
with a call option on their services. Others try alternatives like more communication, hand holding,
and the like.

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